By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
LOCALS are solving crimes for Casey police officers within a couple of hours.
The Casey Eyewatch Facebook page, run out of the Narre Warren Police Station, appeals to the public for help with investigations.
And its success rate is picking up by the minute.
Page co-ordinator Senior Constable Laura Carter said social media was proving to be a huge help in solving missing persons cases and criminal investigations.
“We have about a 50 per cent strike rate with the public supplying us with information that leads to identification of a person of interest,” Sen Const Carter said.
“I know that doesn’t sound like much but it is, because it’s information we otherwise wouldn’t have.”
And it was quick thinking Casey residents who contacted relevant officers within hours of a Facebook post that had two thieves caught in record time.
“The page had solved two pharmacy thefts in a couple of hours through the power of social media,” Sen Const Carter said.
The clear CCTV footage from Narre Warren pharmacies made the task even easier for Facebook users to decipher.
“We’re sitting on just over 12,000 likes at the moment and it’s been growing since it started in April 2013,” Sen Const Carter said.
“Improved CCTV has helped a lot as well, but we’ve gone from only a select few businesses having the technology to almost everyone and even residential houses have CCTV now.”
Sen Const Carter along with officers from Cranbourne Police Station run the social media page which services the entire south-east.
There are 17 Eyewatch Facebook pages across Victoria and their successes uncover some people that don’t want to be found.
Sen Const Carter said it’s common for missing people to walk into the police station and ask for their picture to be taken down.
“They’ll say I’m not missing – I just don’t want to go home,” she said.
The Casey page is updated weekly and Sen Const Carter said investigations can be solved faster if members of the public contact the investigator directly rather than Crime Stoppers.
The Casey page includes appeal posts relevant to Dandenong and Cardinia residents and Sen Const Carter encourages the public to like the Frankston page as well.
